In the premises of the Albanian Competition Authority on the 17th -19th June of 2019, was held a TAIEX Expert Mission on “The link between e-commerce and competition policy”. Two representatives of the Austrian Competition Authority were present at this event. Mrs. Natalie Harsdorf, Head of Legal Service and Deputy Managing Director and Mrs. Barbara Seelos, case handler with focus on cartel enforcement and inspection leader, which have several successful years of experience in the field of competition. This activity enabled the ACA staff to be updated in relation to the EU legislation in force within the digital markets and their linkage in the competition field and the policies being implemented at its function.
Throughout this activity, the aim was to expand knowledge and professional updating of the legislation and methodology to be followed in addressing cases of abuse of dominant position and prohibited agreements, to the ACA staff. Furthermore, a more in-depth analyses of the content of the guidelines in force in regard to the electronic commerce, digital markets (one-sided platforms, block chains, online retailing and distribution and exchange of economy) as well as the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, was given by the experts to the ACA staff.
Relevant issues in the field of competition were addressed, with emphasis on the implementation of the law on cartels and the conduct of inspections and investigations, taking into account the collection and administration of data and their digitization.
Some of the topics tackled were:
• EU Regulation on the Digital Agenda and the Western Balkans Agenda;
• Geoblocking;
• Directive for whistle-blowers;
• EU Directive 2019/1 (ECN +)
At the end of the mission, a working group was organized for the staff, in order to face with a real exercise on the detection of different business models, their structure and their market access in terms of competition policy.